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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0750.PDF
20 April 1951 assessed as a death-blow, and henceforth Lord Haw-haw was torepeat ad nauseam his question "Where is the Ark Royal ?" Though since the war began Naval aircraft had rendered in-valuable service in patrolling and convoying, the invasion of Norway afforded the first opportunity for intensive action. OnApril 12th, 1940, sixteen Blackburn Skuas, having taken off from Hatston, in the Orkneys, sank the German cruiser Konigsberg, inBergen harbour. Together with Swordfish, Skuas were to play a valiant part in the subsequent actions in Norway. They fought,bombed and reconnoitred. Many were lost through enemy action or shortage of petrol. On the withdrawal from Narvik, asquadron of standard R.A.F. Hurricanes flew on to the deck of Glorious, but having set course for England the great carrier wasintercepted by heavy German warships. She was set afire, and went down fighting. Though the Battle of Britain is rightly acknowledged as anR.A.F. "show", some of the Spitfires and Hurricanes were manned by Naval pilots. Swordfish, Albacores and Skuas operated, underCoastal Command, against "invasion" bases and E-boats, and saw action over Dunkirk, where Swordfish accounted for two heavy (Above) A Sopwith Camel aboard a lighter, with 30-ft flying-off platform, towed at 10 knots behind a destroyer. (Below) A fighter of the same type is seen at the instant of a deliberate "ditching." batteries menacing our withdrawal. With an extra petrol tank inthe rear cockpit, the "Stringbags" (for so the Swordfish had come to be known) flew numerous minelaying sorties. For six hoursmore pilot and observer braved the weather in open cockpits. In the Mediterranean, as a prelude to an offensive, it wasnecessary to undertake the melancholy task of denying the Germans use of the French warships. The Fleet Air Arm struckat ships at Oran, and at Dakar torpedo hits by Swordfish put the Richelieu out of the war. There followed a series of engagements (or attempted engage-ments, for the Italians were not over-anxious for a trial of strength) in which Naval aviation was employed with fair success. AtBomba Bay, in August, a destroyer, a depot ship and two sub- marines were sunk by three torpedoes (the explosion in a sub-marine set fire to the destroyer), but the crowning achievement— Taranto—came on the night of November 1 ith, 1940. This date,it may be marked, was near enough a quarter of a century after the historic exploit of Edmonds and Dacre against the Turkishmerchantmen. In moonlight, a dozen Swordfish were ranged on the deck of Illustrious, steaming 170 miles S.E. by E. of Taranto, the greatNaval base inside the heel of Italy. Six carried torpedoes, four had bombs, and two had flares and light bombs. On course for thetarget, cloud caused four machines to break formation. The first flares went down and the flare-droppers made a divingattack with their light bombs. Then the five torpedo carriers swept in for the release. As the flares lit up the harbour the firstsub-flight went in at 4,000ft, led by Lt.Cdr. Williamson. The second aircraft descended to 30ft and attacked a Cavour classbattleship from 700 yards : an explosion followed. The remaining pilot attacked the same target. Those following selected twoLittorio class battleships and one pilot saw a column of smoke rise abaft the funnels. By that time cruisers had opened fire and werehitting merchant ships. Three barrage balloons were set alight by flak. One pilot sang out to his observer, "Where's that bloodyballoon barrage?" Came the patient explanation, "We've been through it once and we're just going through it again." Capt. Oliver Patch, R.M., in one of the bombers, had difficultyin identifying his target, but dive-bombed two cruisers. Another bomber dropped a stick across four destroyers, and a third scoreda direct hit on a seaplane hangar. Meanwhile the second force of nine Swordfish, led by Lt.Cdr.Hale, began flying-off. Five were armed with torpedoes, two with bombs, and two with flares and bombs. One Swordfish (Lt. E. W.Clifford) had to be struck down for repairs. The observer, Lt. Going, while on patrol that morning, had "ditched" 20 miles fromthe carrier, but he obtained the Captain's leave to follow the striking force with Lt. Clifford; they took off 20 minutes after theothers. After the formation had been flying for 20 minutes one Sword-fish had to return. The remainder sighted flares and flak while 60 miles from Taranto. Just before midnight the flare-droppers weredetached and the torpedo aircraft attacked the battleships. One pilot had his aircraft knocked out of control by bullets hitting anaileron rod; he regained control, and as he came down to water- level he could see a battleship silhouetted against the flares andthe moon. He dropped his torpedo on her port quarter and his port wing was hit as he made his getaway. The cruisers, shore batteries and battleships opened fire. Thebattleships seemed to hit the cruisers, and the cruisers hit several merchant ships and set them ablaze. The Swordfish flew througha criss-cross of fire; the air stank with incendiary bullets. As one pilot released his torpedo his undercarriage touched the sea,sending up an enormous column of water behind; but he pulled out. By the time Clifford's aircraft reached the scene the main attackhad been over some 15 minutes. The harbour was lit up by burn- ing ships, and the Italian gunners concentrated their fire on thelone Swordfish as it dived through the barrage to drop its bombs across the line of cruisers. Two Swordfish failed to return, but a handful of "Stringbags"had changed the balance of Mediterranean sea power. The year 1940 saw the introduction of catapult ships for con-voy protection, originally with Naval, later with R.A.F., pilots. Deliberate parachute drops into the icy Atlantic were routine.The catapult ships were augmented during 1941 by escort car- riers, the first of which was H.M.S. Audacity. In that year German and Italian aircraft were mauling ourconvoys, as they made their way through "Bomb Alley", A Sopwith l£ Strutter leaves on a scouting flight fr<fm the flying-off platform built over the turreted guns of a British warship. Later, on battleships and cruisers, these platforms were superseded by catapults.
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